Systems and methodologies for providing training on warnings in a vehicle

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are provided for providing training on a vehicle. The method includes acquiring, using processing circuitry, one or more alert modes associated with a vehicle. Further, the method includes controlling one or more alert devices as a function of a first alert mode. The first alert mode is selected from the one or more alert modes. The method includes outputting information to a user associated with the first alert mode via one or more output devices.

BACKGROUND

Advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) generate a plurality of alertsto assist a driver in autonomous and/or semiautonomous vehicles. Driversmay be unfamiliar with the plurality of alerts. U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,179entitled “Driving training system and method with performance datafeedback” by Copperman et al. describes a driver training system thatsimulates a driving environment and provides performance data.

The foregoing “Background” description is for the purpose of generallypresenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the inventors, to theextent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects ofthe description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the timeof filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior artagainst the present invention. The foregoing paragraph has been providedby way of general introduction, and is not intended to limit the scopeof the following claims. The described embodiments, together withfurther advantages, will be best understood by reference to thefollowing detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

SUMMARY

The present inventors recognized that it would be beneficial if trainingis provided to familiarize drivers with the plurality of alertsgenerated by an ADAS.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provideda method for providing training on a vehicle. The method includesacquiring, using processing circuitry, one or more alert modesassociated with a vehicle. Further, the method includes activating oneor more alert devices as a function of a first alert mode. The firstalert mode is identified from the one or more alert modes by a user. Themethod includes outputting, using the processing circuitry, informationto a user associated with the first alert mode via one or more outputdevices.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provideda non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which,when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least oneprocessor to perform the above-described method for training on avehicle.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provideda system for training on a vehicle. The system comprises one or moreoutput devices, one or more alert devices, and processing circuitry. Theprocessing circuitry is configured to acquire one or more alert modesassociated with a vehicle and control the one or more alert devices as afunction of a first alert mode. The first alert mode is selected fromthe one or more alert modes. The processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to output information to a user associated with the firstalert mode via the one or more output devices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendantadvantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes betterunderstood by reference to the following detailed description whenconsidered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram representation of a system for providingtraining on alerts in a vehicle according to one example;

FIG. 2 shows logs for a plurality of drivers according to one example;

FIG. 3 shows a training record for a driver according to one example;

FIG. 4 shows a graphical user interface according to one example;

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for providing training on avehicle according to one example;

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for providing training on avehicle according to one example;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary block diagram of a controller according to oneexample; and

FIG. 8 is an exemplary block diagram of a central processing unitaccording to one example.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designateidentical or corresponding parts throughout several views, the followingdescription relates to system and methodologies for providing trainingon a vehicle.

Further, as used herein, the words “a”, “an” and the like generallycarry a meaning of “one or more,” unless stated otherwise.

Vehicles with at least some ADAS and/or semiautonomous/autonomousfunctionality have been introduced to the market. Training on thesevehicles is minimal. For example, some car manufacturers require thesalesman at a dealership to attend a location (e.g., training centers)to train on specific features of a vehicle. However, consumers, thepeople who will actually be driving the vehicle, are not provided withany formal training beyond what is conveyed to them by the salesman.

The system and associated methodology provide training for users onwarnings that may be issued in a semiautonomous/autonomous vehicle orone equipped with ADAS. The system generates a plurality of alerts andprovides the user with information associated with each alert. Theinformation includes an explanation about the reason that may triggerthe warning/auto braking/auto steering functionality (collectivelyreferred to herein as alerts). That way, drivers become more familiarwith their vehicle's systems and will become more accustomed to thewarnings/auto-braking/auto steering when driving.

The plurality of alerts and warnings may be generated in the ADAS and/orsemiautonomous/autonomous vehicle. The plurality of alerts may includeone or more haptic alerts, one or more auditory alerts, and/or one ormore visual alerts.

In addition, each alert may have different features settings associatedwith a plurality of alerts modes. For example, an intensity ofvibration, a duration of the vibration, a rate of the vibration, and/orfrequency of the vibration, an occurrence of the auditory alert, a soundlevel, a sound type (e.g., particular narrow-band chime, broadbandauditory warning signal), a duration of the auditory alert, visual typeof the visual alert (e.g., a particular color, symbol), a duration ofthe visual alert may be associated with different alerts. For example, alower sound level may be associated with a low priority alert while ahigher sound level may be associated with an imminent warning thatrequires an immediate action from the driver.

The information can be provided in various forms. For example, theinformation can be audible or visual. The information can be provided inthe form of videos. For example, exemplary video footages may bedisplayed to the user that shows actual situations that may trigger eachof the plurality of alerts.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for providing training on avehicle according to one example. The system 100 may include acontroller 102, an alert modes database 104, output devices 106, inputdevices 106, and alert devices 110. The system 100 may connect to adrivers database 114 via a network 112. The vehicle may be a car, a bus,a truck, or similar vehicle having semi or fully autonomous drivingcapabilities. In one embodiment, the controller 102 includes a CPU 700and a memory 702, as shown in FIG. 7 .

The controller 102 generates a control signal to the alert devices 110and outputs information via the output devices 106. For example, fortraining on lane veering, the controller 102 may send a control signalto the steering wheel to vibrate. In addition, the controller 102 sendsinformation including an explanation about why the steering wheel isvibrating to the output devices 106. While the steering wheel isvibrating, “The steering wheel vibration indicates that the driver issteering from the lane of travel” may be outputted via a loudspeaker.

The alert modes database 104 stores a plurality of alerts that may begenerated in the vehicle. The alert modes database 104 storesinformation associated with each of the plurality of alerts. The alertmodes database 104 can include volatile memory, non-volatile memory, ora combination of volatile and non-volatile memory. In one example, thealert modes database 104 may be in the vehicle, in a plug-in vehicleaccessory device, in user removable storage (e.g., USB flash drive,Secure Digital SD, etc.), in the memory of a user device (e.g., usersmart phone or key fob), or in a cloud database.

The alerts and warnings included in the training represents alerts andwarning that may be generated from advanced driver assistance systems(ADAS). The ADAS may include a lane keep assist and warning system, ablind spot detection system, a forward crash warning system, a parkingassist system, an automatic braking system, a lane change assist system,a rear cross traffic alert, a pedestrian detection system, an animaldetection system, a bicyclist detection system, and a driver attentionsystem.

In one example, alerts may be generated from one or moresemiautonomous/autonomous driving systems. The one or moresemiautonomous/autonomous driving systems may include self-parkingsystems, semiautonomous/autonomous steering systems, and the like.Alerts from the one or more semiautonomous/autonomous driving systemsmay indicate that a human intervention is required. The alerts may havedifferent levels. For example, a last level may indicate that humanintervention is needed immediately (imminent) such as when a malfunctionis detected in one or more semiautonomous/autonomous systems. Thus, thedriver is trained on the plurality of alerts that may be triggered inthe vehicle.

In one example, the user may select preferable settings during thetraining for the training only. The settings may include an output type(e.g., audio, video), a preferable volume level, voice settings (e.g.,female voice, male voice), and the like. The settings may also includethe language. In other examples, the language may be automaticallydetermined as a function of the location of the vehicle. The location ofthe vehicle may be determined using localization circuitry such as GPS(Global Positioning System) or other localization methods as would beunderstood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

Once an alert is generated and the information is outputted, the drivermay be presented with a user interface to indicate whether the alert andassociated information was apprehended. An exemplary user interface isshown in FIG. 4 . In one example, each alert is generated a predefinednumber of times before the driver is presented with the user interfaceto indicate whether the alert and associated information is apprehendedby the user.

The output devices 106 may include a head up display and a multimediahead unit. The head up display may be a micro display imagingtechnologies including liquid crystal display (LCD), liquid crystal onsilicon (LCoS), digital micro-mirrors (DMD), and organic light-emittingdiode (OLED). The multimedia head unit may be located in the center of adashboard of the vehicle. The multimedia head unit controls one or moreloudspeakers that are distributed in the vehicle.

The input devices 108 may include a multiple touch input device and avoice recognition system. The multiple touch input device may be atouchscreen including a touch sensitive surface or a display overlaidwith the touch sensitive surface such as a multi-touch input surface(MTIS). Multiple technologies exist for detecting a user's touch using atouch sensitive surface including capacitive technologies, resistivetechnologies, optical technologies, wave technologies, or othertechnologies as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art.

The voice recognition system may include one or more microphones andprocessing circuitry configured to detect a user input and map the userinput to command to the controller 102 as would be recognized by one ofordinary skill in the art.

The alert devices 110 may include, but are not limited to, haptic alertdevices (e.g., steering wheel, vehicle seat, one or more pedals), visualalert devices (e.g., warning lamps, an information center, a screen ofan infotainment system, a LED panel, a head-up display, a displayreflected off windshield), and auditory alert devices (e.g., warningchimes or beeps). In one example, the alert devices 110 receives signalfrom ADAS such that a driver can be alerted of various conditions of thevehicle to minimize or prevent collisions. As described further below,the controller 102 sends signals to the alert devices 110 when in atraining mode to simulate the plurality of alert modes that may occurwhile driving.

The network 112 is any network that allows the system 100 and thedrivers database 114 to communicate information with each other.Suitable networks can include or interface with any one or more of alocal intranet, a PAN (Personal Area Network), a LAN (Local AreaNetwork), a WAN (Wide Area Network), a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network),a VPN (Virtual Private Network), or a SAN (storage area network).Furthermore, communications may also include links to any of a varietyof wireless networks, including WAP (Wireless Application Protocol),GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), GSM (Global system for MobileCommunication), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) or TDMA (TimeDivision Multiple Access), cellular phone networks, GPS (GlobalPositioning System), CDPD (Cellular digit packet data), Bluetooth radio,or an IEEE 802.11 based radio frequency.

The drivers database 114 may be cloud-based databases accessed by theCPU 700 via the network 112. The drivers database 114 stores trainingstatus for one or more drivers.

FIG. 2 shows logs for a plurality of drivers according to one example.Tables 200, 202 show training status for two drivers on one or morevehicles. The log may include a vehicle make and model and a trainingstatus. For example, a training status of “completed” may indicate thata driver has completed the training for a specific vehicle and model.The logs may be stored in the drivers database 114. In one example, thedrivers database 114 may be accessed by a third party to check whether adriver has completed the training on a specific vehicle. For example, adriver may have to complete the training on a specific vehicle beforebeing able to register the vehicle. In one example, a car rental companymay connect to the drivers database 114 to check whether a customer hascompleted the training on a specific vehicle before being able to rentthe specific vehicle.

FIG. 3 shows a training record 300 for a driver on a vehicle accordingto one example. The training record 300 may include a plurality offields. A first field 302 may include driver identification information.The identification information may include a name, a driver licenseidentifier, and vehicle identifying information (e.g., make, model,year). A second field 304 may shows the status of the training. A thirdfield 306 may include a list of the one or more alerts that may begenerated in the vehicle. Each of the one or more alerts may have astatus. When the status of all the alerts is marked as completed, thestatus in the second field 304 is updated to “completed”.

FIG. 4 shows a graphical user interface (GUI) 400 according to oneexample. The GUI 400 may be configured to allow the user to interactwith the controller 102. The GUI 400 may include an “ALERT” pane 402, a“YES” control 404, a “NO” control 406, a “NEXT” navigational control408, a “PREVIOUS” navigational control 410, and a “REPLAY” control 412.The “ALERT” pane 402 presents the user with a name of the alert thatwas/is generated by the controller 102. The “NEXT” navigational control408, when selected, presents the user with a new alert. The “PREVIOUS”navigational control 410, when selected, presents the user with theprevious alert. Upon activation of the “REPLAY” control 412, the alertis repeated by the controller 102. Thus, the controller 102 sends to thealert devices 110 a signal indicating the alert that the user requeststo be repeated. Upon activation of the “YES” control 404, the controller102 updates the status of the alert mode to “completed”. For example,the status of the alert in the training record 300 is updated. Uponactivation of the “NO” control 406, the controller 102 may present theuser with a new alert or repeat the current alert. In addition, the GUI400 may include a “select alert” control (not shown). Upon activation ofthe “select alert” control, the user may be presented with a drop-downmenu, search box, or other selection control for identifying the alertthat the user requests to be generated.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a method for providing training on avehicle according to one example. At step S500, the controller 102 mayacquire one or more alert modes associated with a vehicle. For example,the one or more modes may be stored in the memory 702 and/or the alertmodes database 104. At step S502, the controller 102 may send a signalto one or more alert devices to generate a first alert associated with afirst alert mode. The first alert mode is selected from the one or morealert modes. The first alert mode may be selected randomly, by the user,or by a trainer.

At step S504, the information associated with the first alert mode isretrieved and the information is outputted to the user.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating a method for providing training on avehicle according to one example. At step S600, the controller 102 mayacquire one or more alert modes associated with a vehicle. At step S602,the user may be authenticated. For example, the user may be identifiedby entering a code or a password. At step S604, the driver may bepresented with the GUI 400 to select an alert mode. In one example, thealert mode is selected randomly from the one or more alert modes. Thecontroller 102 selects an alert mode from the one or more alert modeswith a “not completed” status. Then, the controller 102 may send asignal to one or more alert devices to generate an alert associated withthe selected alert mode. Once an alert mode is selected, the controller102 may update a count associated with the alert mode. Thus, each alertmode may have an associated count. In addition, a predetermined numbermay be associated with each alert mode. The predetermined numberindicates the number of times an alert mode is to be generated to theuser before the training for the alert mode is completed. In oneexample, the training for the alert mode is not completed until thecontroller 102 receives an indication from the user that the alert modeis apprehended. At step S606, the controller 102 may output theinformation associated with the selected alert via the output devices106. The settings of the output devices 106 may be based on the useridentity.

Then, at step S608, the controller 102 may check to see whether all thealert modes are marked as completed. In response to determining that allthe alert modes are completed the process goes to step S610. In responseto determining that all the alert modes are not completed, the flow goesto step S604. At step S610, the controller 102 may update the trainingrecord 300 to “completed”. In addition, the user log in the driversdatabase 114 may be updated. In addition, the status of the training maybe sent to an external device via the network 112. In one example, theexternal device may be a server located in a government facility such asdepartment of motor vehicles.

Next, a hardware description of the controller 102 according toexemplary embodiments is described with reference to FIG. 7 . In FIG. 7, the controller 102 includes a CPU 700 which performs the processesdescribed herein. The process data and instructions may be stored inmemory 702. These processes and instructions may also be stored on astorage medium disk 704 such as a hard drive (HDD) or portable storagemedium or may be stored remotely. Further, the claimed advancements arenot limited by the form of the computer-readable media on which theinstructions of the inventive process are stored. For example, theinstructions may be stored on CDs, DVDs, in FLASH memory, RAM, ROM,PROM, EPROM, EEPROM, hard disk or any other information processingdevice with which the controller 102 communicates, such as a server orcomputer.

Further, the claimed advancements may be provided as a utilityapplication, background daemon, or component of an operating system, orcombination thereof, executing in conjunction with CPU 700 and anoperating system such as Microsoft Windows 7, UNIX, Solaris, LINUX,Apple MAC-OS and other systems known to those skilled in the art.

In order to achieve the controller 102, the hardware elements may berealized by various circuitry elements, known to those skilled in theart. For example, CPU 700 may be a Xenon or Core processor from Intel ofAmerica or an Opteron processor from AMID of America, or may be otherprocessor types that would be recognized by one of ordinary skill in theart. Alternatively, the CPU 700 may be implemented on an FPGA, ASIC, PLDor using discrete logic circuits, as one of ordinary skill in the artwould recognize. Further, CPU 700 may be implemented as multipleprocessors cooperatively working in parallel to perform the instructionsof the inventive processes described above. For example, FIG. 8 showsone implementation of CPU 700.

The controller 102 in FIG. 7 also includes a network controller 706,such as an Intel Ethernet PRO network interface card from IntelCorporation of America, for interfacing with network 112. As can beappreciated, the network 112 can be a public network, such as theInternet, or a private network such as LAN or WAN network, or anycombination thereof and can also include PSTN or ISDN sub-networks. Thenetwork 112 can also be wired, such as an Ethernet network, or can bewireless such as a cellular network including EDGE, 3G and 4G wirelesscellular systems. The wireless network can also be WiFi, Bluetooth, orany other wireless form of communication that is known.

A general purpose I/O interface 708 interfaces with the output devices106 as well as the input devices 108.

The general purpose storage controller 710 connects the storage mediumdisk 704 with communication bus 712, which may be an ISA, EISA, VESA,PCI, or similar, for interconnecting all of the components of thecontroller 102. A description of the general features and functionalityof the storage controller 710, the network controller 706, and thegeneral-purpose I/O interface 708 is omitted herein for brevity, asthese features are known.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary block diagram of the CPU 700 according to oneexample.

In one implementation of CPU 700, the instruction register 838 retrievesinstructions from the fast memory 840. At least part of theseinstructions are fetched from the instruction register 838 by thecontrol logic 836 and interpreted according to the instruction setarchitecture of the CPU 700. Part of the instructions can also bedirected to the register 832. In one implementation, the instructionsare decoded according to a hardwired method, and in anotherimplementation, the instructions are decoded according a microprogramthat translates instructions into sets of CPU configuration signals thatare applied sequentially over multiple clock pulses. After fetching anddecoding the instructions, the instructions are executed using thearithmetic logic unit (ALU) 834 that loads values from the register 832and performs logical and mathematical operations on the loaded valuesaccording to the instructions. The results from these operations can befeedback into the register and/or stored in the fast memory 840.According to certain implementations, the instruction set architectureof the CPU 700 can use a reduced instruction set architecture, a complexinstruction set architecture, a vector processor architecture, a verylarge instruction word architecture. Furthermore, the CPU 700 can bebased on the Von Neuman model or the Harvard model. The CPU 700 can be adigital signal processor, an FPGA, an ASIC, a PLA, a PLD, or a CPLD.Further, the CPU 700 can be an x86 processor by Intel or by AMD; an ARMprocessor, a Power architecture processor by, e.g., IBM; a SPARCarchitecture processor by Sun Microsystems or by Oracle; or other knownCPU architecture.

The present disclosure is not limited to the specific circuit elementsdescribed herein, nor is the present disclosure limited to the specificsizing and classification of these elements.

The functions and features described herein may also be executed byvarious distributed components of a system. For example, one or moreprocessors may execute these system functions, wherein the processorsare distributed across multiple components communicating in a network.

The above-described hardware description is a non-limiting example ofcorresponding structure for performing the functionality describedherein.

The hardware description above, exemplified by any one of the structureexamples shown in FIG. 7 , constitutes or includes specializedcorresponding structure that is programmed or configured to perform thealgorithms shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 .

A system which includes the features in the foregoing descriptionprovides numerous advantages to users. In particular, drivers aretrained on a vehicle before driving the vehicle. The drivers are trainedon the alerts that may be generated in the vehicle. The drivers becomefamiliar with the alerts thus reducing confusion when driving thereforeincreasing safety.

Obviously, numerous modifications and variations are possible in lightof the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within thescope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwisethan as specifically described herein.

Thus, the foregoing discussion discloses and describes merely exemplaryembodiments of the present invention. As will be understood by thoseskilled in the art, the present invention may be embodied in otherspecific forms without departing from the spirit or essentialcharacteristics thereof. Accordingly, the disclosure of the presentinvention is intended to be illustrative, but not limiting of the scopeof the invention, as well as other claims. The disclosure, including anyreadily discernible variants of the teachings herein, defines, in part,the scope of the foregoing claim terminology such that no inventivesubject matter is dedicated to the public.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for providing training inside avehicle, the method comprising: acquiring, using processing circuitry,one or more alert modes associated with advanced driver assistancesystems of the vehicle, the advanced driver assistance systems includingat least a driver attention system; accepting, using the processingcircuitry, selection of a first alert mode via an input device of thevehicle, wherein the first alert mode is selected from the one or morealert modes; controlling, using the processing circuitry, one or morealert devices inside the vehicle as a function the first alert mode tosimulate the first alert mode inside the vehicle; and outputting, usingthe processing circuitry, information to a user associated with thefirst alert mode via one or more output devices, wherein an intensity ofan alert corresponding to the information is proportional to a prioritylevel of the alert, and a highest priority level is assigned to an alertcorresponding to a malfunction of an autonomous driving system of thevehicle.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more alert devicesinclude at least one of a haptic device, a visual alert device, and anauditory alert device.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the advanceddriver assistance systems include at least one of a lane keep assist andwarning system, a blind spot detection system, a forward crash warningsystem, a parking assist system, an automatic braking system, a lanechange assist system, a rear cross traffic alert system, a pedestriandetection system, and an animal detection system.
 4. The method of claim1, further comprising: determining an alert mode status associated witheach of the one or more alert modes; and updating a training statusbased on the alert mode status of each of the one or more alert modes.5. The method of claim 4, further comprising: serving the trainingstatus to an external device.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the oneor more output devices include at least one of a head up display and amultimedia head unit.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the informationis in an audible format.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein theinformation is in a visual format.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein theinformation associated with the first alert mode includes an explanationof a trigger of the first alert mode.
 10. The method of claim 1, whereincontrolling the one or more alert devices inside the vehicle includescontrolling the one or more alert devices inside the vehicle to simulatethe first alert mode inside the vehicle before the user drives thevehicle.
 11. A system for providing training inside a vehicle, thesystem comprising: one or more output devices; advanced driverassistance systems including at least a driver attention system; one ormore alert devices inside the vehicle; and processing circuitryconfigured to: acquire one or more alert modes associated with theadvanced driver assistance systems of the vehicle, accept selection of afirst alert mode via an input device of the vehicle, wherein the firstalert mode is selected from the one or more alert modes; control the oneor more alert devices inside the vehicle as a function of the firstalert mode to simulate the first alert mode inside the vehicle, andoutput information to a user associated with the first alert mode viathe one or more output devices, wherein an intensity of an alertcorresponding to the information is proportional to a priority level ofthe alert, and a highest priority level is assigned to an alertcorresponding to a malfunction of an autonomous driving system of thevehicle.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the one or more alertdevices include at least one of a haptic device, a visual alert device,and an auditory alert device.
 13. The system of claim 11, wherein theadvanced driver assistance systems include at least one of a lane keepassist and warning system, a blind spot detection system, a forwardcrash warning system, a parking assist system, an automatic brakingsystem, a lane change assist system, a rear cross traffic alert system,a pedestrian detection system, and an animal detection system.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the processing circuitry is furtherconfigured to: determine an alert mode status associated with each ofthe one or more alert modes; and update a training status based on thealert mode status of each of the one or more alert modes.
 15. The systemof claim 14, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to:serve the training status to an external device.
 16. The system of claim11, wherein the one or more output devices include at least one of ahead up display and a multimedia head unit.
 17. The system of claim 11,wherein the processing circuitry is configured to control the one ormore alert devices inside the vehicle to simulate the first alert modeinside the vehicle before the user drives the vehicle.
 18. Anon-transitory computer readable medium storing computer-readableinstructions therein which when executed by a computer cause thecomputer to perform a method for providing training inside a vehicle,the method comprising: acquiring one or more alert modes associated withadvanced driver assistance systems of a vehicle, the advanced driverassistance systems including at least a driver attention system;accepting selection of a first alert mode via an input device of thevehicle, wherein the first alert mode is selected from the one or morealert modes; controlling one or more alert devices inside the vehicle asa function of the first alert mode to simulate the first alert modeinside the vehicle; and outputting information to a user associated withthe first alert mode via one or more output devices, wherein anintensity of an alert corresponding to the information is proportionalto a priority level of the alert, and a highest priority level isassigned to an alert corresponding to a malfunction of an autonomousdriving system of the vehicle.